Not guilty plea in petition fraud case

Two men charged with forging signatures on ballot petitions for state Sen. Terry Link pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Lake County circuit court.

Kenneth Davison, 50, and Jerry Knight, 40, are charged with forgery and perjury and face up to five years in prison.

Assistant State's Attorney Patricia Fix said the pair were paid to circulate the petitions to place Link's name on ballots for the February primary election.

Davison is charged with forging 26 names on nine pages of nominating petitions, while Knight is accused of supplying 36 forged names on 11 pages.

Link, who leads the Lake County Democratic organization, was not charged in the case.

Prosecutors have said he and former party Vice Chairman Pete Couvall, who hired Knight and Davison to gather the signatures, cooperated with their investigation.

Fix said prosecutors asked the judges in the cases to order both men to submit handwriting samples for analysis.

Davison appeared before Circuit Judge John Phillips while Knight's case is being heard by Circuit Judge Fred Foreman.

Both men are due to appear in court again Nov. 12.